Cyclists travelling hundreds of kilometres for charity got to see just how the funds they've raised were spent when they stopped in Forbes last weekend.
The FDC Ride to Give has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for at-risk regional youth - last year supporting Forbes with money to purchase our Boys to the Bush shed.
This year, the ride stopped here to check it out.
FDC Director Cornelius Hart and Boys to the Bush's Matt Seiter, who joined the ride, said it was pretty special.
"$240,000 from what we raised last year went to buying a property to use and renovate for Boys to the Bush," Cornelius said.
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"It was quite emotional to know our blood, sweat and tears went in part into buying this thing."
Cornelius called the shed an “asset that will start a legacy,” while Matt said riders could be proud, calling the visit “amazing.”
"It was a lovely way to finish the first day," Cornelius said.
"It's somewhere positive for vulnerable boys to be, among friends where they can play pool, learn life skills and job skills ... and slowly talk and share their worries and troubles."
This was Matt's second Ride to Give and he said the route, the stops, the weather and the food were great.
Building on last year's support, Boys to the Bush is again a beneficiary with funds going towards their MENtoring programs.
"Without the money raised from this trip kids wouldn't be able to access our programs as much - it's as simple as that," Matt said.
Now well-established, the Boys to the Bush team sees the difference they can make as they work with young men.
"In Forbes ... It's a huge part of the community, each year we get more embedded in the community, each year our Boys to the Bush community grows and more people get involved," Matt said.
"Because we really feel that solutions to a lot of these kids' issues, problems or adversities that they're facing are in the community.
"The answers are out there with the local business, with a farmer, or a person, it's just our job to connect it up."
But it does take one-on-one commitment and it does take time, which is why events like Ride to Give are so crucial.
In its 10th year now, the 2025 ride has passed $500,000 of funds raised, $50,000 more than last year.
The ride began in Dubbo the morning of 30 March and travelled via Yeoval and Parkes to Forbes.
On 31 March they were back on the road to Grenfell, then to Temora, before making their way to Leeton over three big days.
Boys to the Bush is one beneficiary of this year's ride, the other is BackTrack: both focus on supporting, and providing preventative and early intervention strategies for young people in our region.
On top of fundraising for these two causes, FDC director Cornelius Hart said this year they also split $24,000 between charities in the towns they visit including schools, CWA, Lions Clubs and even bush poets.
With many of them being CEOs and businesspeople, the majority of riders came from Sydney, while those remaining hailed from Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Central Coast of NSW.
"It's a great gathering, it's like friends coming together every year for something good," Cornelius said.
"When we're hurting and the ride is getting hard, we tell ourselves 'it's not about the bike, it's about the kids'.
"That gets us home every day."
As the riders celebrated another mission complete at a finale dinner and auction at the Boys to the Bush depot in Leeton on 1 April, Cornelius said the feeling all-round was exhaustion and elation.
"It was a very successful night and it was what helped us get to that magic half-a-million-dollars mark," he said.
"We all had a wonderful time, even though we're hurting," he laughed.
"It's so wonderful to meet the country folk, to get that wave in the street and toot of the horn as we pass.
"It may not seem like much - many of us have country ties but we don't get out there much.
"We hope that when they see us they know we've raised half a million dollars for kids in the country, which is pretty significant."
Ride to Give began 12 years ago as a then one-off ride to raise money for Royal Far West, a charity dedicated to connecting kids in rural and remote communities to the care and services they need.
